Argent Leviathans
The Argent Leviathans are a Loyalist Space Marine Chapter descended from an Unknown parent Chapter that was founded during the 25th Founding. The warriors of the Argent Leviathans revel in the glory of melee combat. The Argent Leviathans rarely use the ''Codex Astartes'' and instead utilise their own strategies and structure. The Chapter mainly recruits from their homeworld, the Ocean world Caerule, however they have recently been forced to recruit from other planets due to a shortage of Marines. Chapter History Initium Gloriae 712-788.M40 Established during the 25th 'Bastion' Founding on 712.M40, it is said that the Argent Leviathans were originally created in order to defend against a minor chaos incursion into the Segmentum Obscurus. After easily besting many small warbands the members of the Chapter began to become boastful and arrogant, a trait that still remains within the chapter to this day, because of this they would get cockier in battle leading to unnecessary casualties. After roughly 60 years of their egos growing due to never having a battle they deemed as a loss, the Chaos Warband, the Flawless Host, began to make their way to the Argent Leviathans homeworld, Caerule, it was here that the chapter have their first real fight and their first supposed defeat that crushed their inflated egos and forged a hatred deeper than the Great Ocean in the flames of battle. Sanguis Vicos 789.M40 Once word got out that the Chapters homeworld was to be attacked, every asset the chapter had access to was recalled back to Caerule in order to defend it. However, the assault came sooner than expected leaving the civilians vulnerable. The forces of the Flawless Host came upon the capital of Kar'Morgh where most of the forces were garrisoned, however, they had all the civilians inside the large chapel of Aquaenius Hall. All of the Chapters Companies were present to fight for their home with the 4th Company left to defend the Fortress Monastery and some left in orbit to board the enemies ships. Lord Magister Dae'thos Kordavius led the charge in Kar'Morgh with his Kraken Praesidio cutting through waves of the traitors, hoping that the enemies would withdraw once their leader died he began hunting down their Lord, Eleaxus the Flawless. Above the planet itself, the Chapters Fleet fought a relentless battle against the tainted ships if the Slaaneshi Warband. The enemy ships were more numerous but had much weaker armaments and armour compared to the Chapters Strike Cruisers and Battle Barges. By the 14th day, the fleet had destroyed all but one of the enemies ships by torpedos and boarding parties, however, the Warbands ships managed to destroy the Battle Barge Furore Cessabit. The only ship that remained was their Flagship, a monstrosity of warp taint and metal. On the 15th day of battle, Kordavius and his strike team of Kraken Terminators had tracked Eleaxus down to Aquaneius hall, inside a large group of civilians being gruesomely tortured by members of the Flawless Host. The Possessed had yet to notice them but if they engaged the heretic forces Kordavius could run the risk of allowing Eleaxus to get away. But by the time he had hunted him down the traitor marine was being teleported back to his flagship, leaving Kordavius and by extent, the entire chapter with a burning hatred that would burn on the tinder of the countless more times the Chapter would encounter the Warband. Eventually, the Warband retreated after a large amount of Melta Charges were detonated during a battle, decimating their ranks yet killing many civilians. By the end of the assault, the streets ran with blood, of loyalist, traitor and civilian alike. The chapter had lost over 340 marines by underestimating their enemy as they had not prepared for an assault of this magnitude. 63% of the Population of Kar'Morgh had been killed by the Traitor forces. After this, the chapter stopped fighting in large Battles until they had fully regrown their strength. The Ira Tempestus 923.M40 Nearing the end of M40 the relatively young Chapter had many victories under their belt, winning countless battles without losing any notable members of the Chapter, this was until the year 923.M41, the day the Great Ocean raged and the Lord of the Tide got dragged away. During 923.M40 the largest storm Caerule had ever seen hit the coast of Kar'Morgh. Being the only company present on Caerule at the time, the 3rd Company of Argent Leviathans attempted to minimise the civilian casualties by getting them to the highest point of the small hive city in order to protect them from the over 30-foot tall waves. However it was not just the waves killing civilians, word quickly spread that there was a monster coming close to the shore of the city, however, believing it was just the talk of simple citizens the brothers of the chapter ignored it. While evacuating the civilian populace a great shadow began to fall over Kar'Morgh, a sea creature nearly 70 feet at its highest point above the water, a creature later to be recognised as the Revenant Leviathan. After the creature began assaulting the lower tiers of the city, Lord Magister Dae'thos Kordavius and a strike team of Kraken Praesidio went down the city in attempts to kill the creature. Little is known of what happened to Kordavius after he descended the city, only that he and all of his strike team were killed, but not before slaying the creature from the inside. Now the Chapter was without a leader and Kordavius was later replaced by the commanded First Princeps Vel'hiam Dratus. Nunc Finis 999.M41 As the end of the millennium was nearing, the Argent Leviathans were split between two different Segmentums. The bulk of the Chapters forces were in the Segmentum Tempestus, fighting a bloody crusade against an Ork WAAAGH!, while the 4th, 6th, 7th and 9th Companies were defending the Segmentum Obscurus against an increasing amount of Chaos incursion. When word reached the chapter of Abaddon the Despoiler attacking the Cadian Gate, the bulk of the forces began to make their way to Cadia ordering the companies within the Segmentum Obscurus to retreat to the Norian Sub-Sector and protect it against chaos attacks. However, due to the warp instability at the time, the bulk of the forces never reached Cadia in time and instead made an emergency exit from the warp after Cadia was destroyed. This action spat the Chapters bulk out within the Ultima Segmentum where they head of the resurrection of Roboute Guilliman. Upon hearing this the bulk of the chapter quickly mobilised to join the resurrected Primarch Indomitus Crusade. However, these were the lucky ones as the 4th, 6th, 7th and 9th Companies were now trapped within the Imperium Nihilus and were forced to defend the Norian Subsector from daemonic incursions, before slowly being pushed back further and further before finally making their last stand in the Caerulian System. Rogum Ardentem 102.M42 As Daemonic incursions became more frequent, the companies left within the Dark Imperium attempted to defend the Norian Subsector were slowly pushed back to their Homeworld of Caerule. After being chased through the Sub Sector b the Greater Daemon of Slaanesh Vro'nan Pyredancer the companies gathered the civilians to make their final stand. Led by 6th Princeps Kor'bhan Octarius, the Astartes began to prepare their defence for the inevitable attack on the planet. The small number of forces left on the planet managed to hold off the daemon onslaught before Octarius decided to evacuate all civilians and some Astartes onto whatever spacecraft they had left on the planet. After a large amount of debate about the Astartes leaving, Octarius managed to convince the 4th, 7th and 9th Princeps to evacuate what little forces they had left of their companies onto the ships. While the Astartes were evacuating civilians, the 6th Company began to hold off the daemon forces, coming face to face with the leader of the horde, Vro'nan Pyredancer, Greater Daemon of Slaanesh. After the evacuations were completed, the 6th company alone managed to hold off the Daemons for another 6 days before being eradicated. The final survivor what Octarius himself who was subsequently burned alive by the Greater Daemon. The evacuees eventually came into contact with Roboute Guilliman's Indomitus Crusade and were brought back to the rest of their chapter. With the 6th Company entirely wiped out, the chapter command begrudgingly accepted the offer of Primaris reinforcements, turning the 6th company into an entirely Primaris force. Notable Campaigns Cleansing of Oktavius IV 978-979.M40 The Cleansing of Oktavius IV was a small campaign where the 2nd and 3rd Companies hunted down and destroyed a large Genestealer cult prevalent on multiple Hive Cities on Oktavius IV. The campaign was won after Altum Dominus Calidus Sepheran killed the Genestealer Patriarch in the lower hive of the Hive City Oktania, after which most of the other Gnestealers upon the planet quickly went into a state of disarray allowing the rest of the Argent Leviathans to quickly eradicate them. WAAAGH! Bakbreaka 112-116.M41 WAAAGH! Bakbreaka was a campaign against the Ork Warboss Uktuz Bakbreaka after the Ork Waagh began sweeping through many systems within the Norian Sub-Sector. After managing to track the Ork Warboss down to the planet of Klontar II, the 4th and 6th Companies began their assault on the planet, ending in a victory after the 4th Princeps killed the Ork Warboss, leading the Ork forces into disarray and making them easier to hunt down and exterminate. The Gothic War 143-151.M41 The Argent Leviathans played a fairly small role during the 12th Black Crusade. Throughout the 21-year-long war, the chapter spent most of their time protecting the Cearulian system and other surrounding systems from Chaos attacks. Throughout the war the chapter had a small number of casualties, losing the strike cruisers Tenebri Gladio and Equo Ferrum The Coroxian Crusade 152-234.M41 The Coroxian Crusade was a crusade against the Chaos controlled system of Coroxia and other select surrounding systems and planets. The Crusade lasted 84 standard Terran years and ending in a decisive Imperial victory. The Crusade was won after the 2nd Captain of the Chapter slayed the leader of the Cult of the 7 Arms, Amet Volupte. Chapter Recruitment The recruitment of the chapter is heavily influenced by the culture of Caerule, and because of this many of the tests are influenced by the planet. The First Lesson The first important test is a simple one, a duel with a full Astartes. The Astartes would be wearing nothing but a loincloth and both the Astartes and Neophyte would be armed with a blunt spear. This first lesson is to teach humility to the Neophytes, due to the long history of brashness within the chapter. The Neophytes aren't even expected to get a single hit on the full Astartes and not even slightly expected to win. The failure of the Neophytes is measured on how they take the defeat. However, if the Neophyte manages to somehow hit the Astartes, the Astartes is to be shamed by the chapter and sent to serve in the Deathwatch as punishment for their failure. The Cleanse of Salt Before the Neophytes receive their Multi-Lung gene-seed, they are to be sent on another task. They are to survive one month in the wild of Caerule, being dropped off into the Great Ocean at a random point. The luckier Neophytes will be dropped off near land, the unlucky ones will have to survive entirely in the ocean. This particular task has a fairly high mortality rate and is used to weed out the week Neophytes. The Scouring One of the final tasks a Neophyte is given is name Et Quaerere, or The Scouring in Low Gothic. The Neophytes are tasked with hunting down and killing any ample sized Leviathan of any breed. There are some simple rules such as the Neophyte must only do so armed with a spear and the Leviathan must be a fully matured creature. Most Neophytes bring back the skull of Banshee Leviathans, however, there have been confirmed cases of Neophytes bringing back the skulls of Wraith or even Ghoul Leviathans. After this, the Neophyte will bleach and clean the skull, after which most Neophytes keep the skulls as a trophy of their first victory. The Rebirth For the Final task, all of the Neophytes are brought to the Chapel of the Sea, within the Aqua Domumus where they are brought before the Sacerdos Dominus. They then go one at a time and recite a long speech to the Sacerdos Dominus, before having their head lowered into a basin of salt water, after which they finish off the speech and are officially inducted into the Scout Company. Chapter Homeworld The homeworld of the Argent Leviathans is Caerule, a medium sized ocean world where 95% of the planet's surface is covered by a single Great Ocean known as the Abyssi Magnae. All of the planet's cities reside on the small amount of land, because of this the planet has a fairly small population of 6 Billion. However the only source of food comes from the Abyssi Magnae but more dangerous game also live within. The Great Ocean is home to the Chapter's namesake - Leviathans, a species that has been known to come in various shapes and sizes, from the dangerous yet killable Banshee Leviathan to the great Revenant Leviathan of legend. The planet is distantly governed yet fiercely protected by the brothers of the Argent Leviathans. Kar'Morgh Kar'Morgh is the Capital city of Caerule, located in the Southern Hemisphere of the planet. Kar'Morgh is a by far the largest city on Caerule, however, in comparison to other Imperial hive cities it is actually relatively small only having a population of 4 billion. Fortress-Monastery The Argent Leviathans Fortress-Monastery is located roughly 5 kilometres off the coast of the planets Capital City. The Fortress Monastery, Aqua Domumus, is located entirely under the Great Ocean, in a small underwater cave in order to provide more environmental protection. Aqua Domumus is lined with thousands of weapon emplacements, including Heavy Bolter emplacements, Plasma Cannon Emplacements and most weapons that are able to be used while underwater. Hall of the Sunken The Hall of the Sunken is a large space within the centre of the Chapters Flagship, the Mors ab Alta. Within the Hall of the Sunken is every single Argent Leviathan that has fallen in battle. Due to the ceremony of each Astartes' corpse being returned to the Abyssi Magnae a piece of the Brother's armour is used to remember them, usually a helmet. Nearer the end of the hall lies the heroes of the Chapter, including Kor'bhan Octarius and at the end of the hall is Lord Magister Dae'thos Kordavius. Due to Kordavius' armour being damaged beyond recognition during his fight with the Revenant Leviathan, the 10 foot tall head of the Revenant Leviathan itself lies as a reminder of Kordavius' deeds. Each fallen Astartes is given a pedestal made of part of the bones of the Revenant Leviathan upon which sits their memorabilia. The name, rank and deeds of the Astartes are inscribed on the pedestal also, a short line written by the Brothers than knew the fallen is inscribed at the top of the pedestal. Some examples include, upon the pedestal of Kor'bhan Octarius is written "Mocked in life, praised in death. Saved the lives of millions, took many more and gave one to do it all." and upon the pedestal of the revered Dea'thos Kordavius is written "The Lord of the Tide, now sleeps below it. His deeds will remain echoed through the halls of eternity and those he slew left to rot where the tide came to take their debts". Chapter Organisation The Argent Leviathans do not strictly follow the Codex Astartes, and instead, have their own structure and ranks. Command Ranks *'Lord Magister (Chapter Master)' *'Princeps (Captain)' *'Legatus (Lieutenant)' *'Veteran Servente (Veteran Sergeant)' *'Servente (Sergeant)' Altum Flecte (Librarians) *'Altum Dominus (Chief Librarian)' *'Altum Auctor (Codicier)' *'Altum Cognis (Epistolary)' *'Altum Aestus (Lexicanum)' Senetatum (Apothecaries) *'Medicus Domina (Chief Apothecary)' *'Chirurgus (Apothecary)' Anguilitia *'Appirattum Dominus (Master of the Forge)' *'Machinae Operatae (Techmarines)' Sacredotum *'Sacredos Dominus (Master of Sanctity) ' *'Episcopus (Chaplain) ' Specialist Ranks *'Armiger (Standard Bearer)' *'Intuitus (Veteran Assault Squad' Kraken Praesidio *'Praesidio Primus' *'Krakens' Order of Battle Headquarters Companies Chapter Beliefs The beliefs of the people of Caerule, and therefore the chapter as a whole, do not differ greatly from the standard Imperial cult, however they're beliefs differ due to the cultural influences of Caerule. Cultum Abyssi The Cultum Abyssi (Or Cult of the Abyss in Low Gothic) is a slightly altered version of the standard Imperial Cult and the religion of Caerule. The people of Caerule and the Chapter believe that the Emperor is the one and only God in the universe and that he will guide them to salvation. They believe that upon a believers death they will descend into the Abyssi Magnae, where they will find the Emperor and serve him once more. Because of this, the Chapter makes no use of Dreadnoughts and instead give the Emperors peace to any grievously injured Astartes, as they think once they are trapped in a Dreadnoughts sarcophagus their soul will be trapped in it, making them unable to join the Emperor at the bottom of the Great Ocean. Upon the death of a Battle-Brother, the Chapter will try to find what remains of their corpse and send it back to the Chapters Fortress Monastery on Caerule, where the dead will be ceremoniously jettisoned into the Abyssi Magnae for them to serve the Emperor in the afterlife. Chapter Gene-Seed The mysterious Gene-Seed of the Argent Leviathans has an almost 100% mutation rate for a particular mutation, with every Battle Brother currently within the Chapter suffering from a mutation that is known within the Chapter as the Mortus Oculus. Mortus Oculus The members of the Leviathans suffer from an oversensitive occulobe. The Occulobes in Astartes affected by the Mortus Oculus is overly sensitive, allowing them to see easily in very low light locations, such as in the deep ocean, making them extremely efficient during night operations which compliments their spearhead tactics. However, this also results in sunlight being blinding to the effected Astartes. Because of this, the helmets of the Argent Leviathans are tinted in order to let them see more easily in high light scenarios. However, this results in the Astartes choosing to either stay within building or within their armour during the day. Because of this most Battle-Brothers of the chapter almost never see interact physically with sunlight making them extremely pale. Chapter Combat Doctrine The Chapters combat doctrine largely focuses on their 'spearhead' doctrine and love for melee combat. During a battle, the chapter will have most Devastator and Tactical marines perform a slow advance upon enemy lines, drawing their fire, while Assault Marines and other melee-oriented squads fight through the enemy lines in order to kill the leader of the enemy force. This is appropriately named the spearhead doctrine, as while the shaft holds it together the blade goes in to rip the throat out of the enemy force by killing their leader. If scout squads are available during an assault, the melee units may not fight through the enemy as the sniper units may take out the leaders. Once the enemies leader is dead, they tend to turn into a state of disarray, during the enemies confusing the chapter will have units surround the enemy force and quickly advance, allowing none to escape. Notable Argent Leviathan's Lord Magister Daethos Kordavius: The original Lord Magister, known for his short temper and disregard of conventional tactics, preferring to charge into battle with his master-crafted Power Spear Celeri Morte. Daethos would tend to charge into Melee combat with his elite bodyguards, his Kraken Terminators. He was last seen charging into the Great Ocean of Caerule to kill the first and only Revenant Leviathan ever seen after it attacked the capital city, Kar’Morgh. After the ocean went quiet, the corpse of the Revenant Leviathan was found, Daethos was not. The corpse of Kordavius was found inside the dead creature's heart, presumed to have cut his way there after being eaten whole by the creature. The skull of the creature is now found within the great hall of the Chapters Fortress Monastery as a reminder of the great deeds performed by Kordavius. Lord Magister Vel’hiam Dratus: The current Lord Magister as of 882.M41. Vel’hiam is known for being methodical and patient during war, much to the contrary of Daethos Kordavius. When in battle he is known for his ruthless efficiency, placing the mission above all else. However, Vel’hiam does not always put the mission over friendly casualties, he has been seen on several occasions to help squads of Guardsmen and Civilians that are being overrun on his way to completing the mission. He is mostly passive towards other military leaders and is not openly hostile to any particular individuals, Astartes or otherwise. However, the exception to this would be Eleaxus the Flawless of the Flawless Host chaos warband, and whenever the Flawless Host or any of its smaller warbands are concerned Vel’hiam has been seen to be impatient and brash, much like others of his chapter, because of his burning hatred for them. Sacerdos Dominus Apollyon Tenebris: The current Sacerdos Dominus, known for his calmness during prayer and sermon, but also for his brutal ferocity during battle, purging the enemies of the Imperium with his Relic Crozius Arcanum,the Mors Sanctorum. He is often seen giving spiritual advice to all members of the chapter, from the newly initiated Scouts to the Veterans of the First Company. Praesidio Primus Bhar’los Whyrdein: The current leader of the elite Kraken Praesidio. Known for his expertise with his master crafted Power Spear, he has been seen to slice through a group of Orks with ease. He has been seen to be a brash and impatient, preferring all out war to diplomacy as in his eyes the Adeptus Astartes have no need for such things as politics. Altum Dominus Calidus Sepheran: The current Altum Dominus of the Chapter. He is a high Gamma level Psyker, known for his expertise in the Telekinesis discipline, being able to completely crush a fully armoured Astartes in seconds. He has a large trophy on his left shoulder pad, the skull of a Genestealer Patriarch that had managed to establish a cult on the planet of Oktavius IV, a hive world neighbouring the Chapters homeworld of Caerule. Sixth Princeps Kor'bhan Octarius, the Black Kraken: Captain of the Sixth Company of the Argent Leviathans from M41.578 to M42.34 (Prior to Primaris reinforcements). Octarius was known for being unusually kind for an Argent Leviathan, this earned him the mocking title of the Black Kraken, Octarius, however, took this in stride and adopted it as the sigil for his Company. Once the Great Rift opened, the Sixth Company of Argent Leviathans was one of the 4 companies that were left stuck within the Dark Imperium. During this, Kor'bhan spent his time protecting the Caerulian system from Chaos Warband and Daemon incursions. However, once Caerule was assaulted by a Slaaneshi Daemon force led by the Keeper of Secrets Vro’nan Pyredancer, Octarius managed to successfully get 253 Astartes and 1 million Caerulian citizens off the planet before him and the Sixth company were entirely wiped out by the Daemon forces. Deathwatch Service , an Argent Leviathan seconded to the Deathwatch]] The Argent Leviathans do send Battle-Brothers to stand the Long Watch, however rare it may be. However, service to the Death Watch is mainly used as punishment as leaving to serve the militant of the Ordo Xenos would break the very close ties a Battle-Brother makes to his squad. However, the arrogant nature of the Argent Leviathans within their own ranks increase drastically when within the ranks of other chapters, leading them to be resented within the Death Watch. Chapter Fleet Each of the ships within the Argent Leviathans Fleet is specially modified to perform the tactics that the chapter favour. Many of them have stripped down armour in order to make them faster to perform quick yet devastating attacks on enemy ships before retreating to prepare for another attack. All of their ships are equipped with Short Burn Torpedos along with hundreds of Weapon Batteries and many other weapons in order to quickly dispatch hostile ships. Battle Barges *''Mors ab Alta'' *''Custos Abyssi'' Strike Cruisers *''Tempesta Mutante'' *''Venti Persequa'' *''Navis Conscensis'' *''Exitio Confringens'' Chapter Relics *''Celeri Morte: Power Spear of the original Lord Magister, Daethos Kordavius, and the only object of his belonging found after his supposed death. It is now passed down from Lord Magister to Lord Magister. It is of very intricate design with many detailed engravings beside it. It is made of a bright silver with a dull aqua handle. *Argentum Statera: Vel’hiam Dratus’ personal suit of heavily modified Artificer armour. The armour is a very bright silver, with several engravings on it that appear to be akin to scales. *Mors Sanctorum: Chapter Appearance Chapter Colours The armour of the Argent Leviathans is mainly a light turquoise colour, the same colour as the Great Sea of Caerule, except for the trim and the inner helmet which is a very bright silver. Upon their left pauldron is a black squad specialty symbol and within the symbol is a stylised gothic numeral indicating the company the Battle-Brother resides in. Chapter Badge The Badge of the Argent Leviathans is a winged black trident, centred a turquoise field. In the centre of the tridents handle sits a gothic stylised skull. Relations ''Feel free to add your own Allies Feel free to add your own Enemies Flawless Host: The Chapter has a very deep-rooted hatred for the Flawless Host Warband, going back to the inception of the chapter after the Warband attacked the chapters homeworld, Caerule. Because of this, most members of the chapter despise the Flawless host, as well as all others that associate with it. Notable Quotes By the Argent Leviathans: About the Argent Leviathans: Feel free to add your own Gallery Argent Leviathans_Termi.png|A Servente (Sergeant) of the Argent Leviathans elite 1st Company (Et Molares). AL First Captain.png|First Princeps Arkun Berradas Category:Imperium Category:Space Marine Chapters Category:Space Marines Category:Unknown Geneseed Category:25th Founding Category:Argent Leviathans